THE 


OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  HOUR 

OR 


Christian  Stewardship. 


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Student  Volunteer  Series ,  No.  //. 


THE 


OPPORTUNITY 0F  ™E  HOUR 


OR 

Christian  Stewardship 

BY 

GEORGE  SHERWOOD  EDDY 


NEW  YORK 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 

Missions 

1899 


The  Opportunity  of  the  Hour 

or 

CHRISTIAN  STEWARDSHIP 


i.  THE  TEACHING  OF  THE  WORD  OF 
GOD  REGARDING  STEWARDSHIP 


i.  The  Teaching  of  the  Old  Testament: 

Stewardship  recognized  in  the  Tithe. 

“In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth.”  The  whole  world 
was  His  by  creation  and  He  never  trans¬ 
ferred  it  to  man.  What  have  we  that  is 
ours?  Money?  “The  silver  is  mine,  and 
the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord.”  Lands? 
“The  land  shall  not  be  sold  in  perpetuity; 
for  the  land  is  mine ,  for  ye  are  strangers 
and  sojourners  with  me.”  Possessions? 
“Whatsoever  is  under  the  whole  heaven  is 
mine."  But  did  not  we  earn  the  wealth? 
“It  is  He  that  giveth  the  power  to  get 
wealth.”  But  my  life?  “All  souls  are 
mine ” — Yea  “the  world  is  mine  and  the 
fulness  thereof.” 


4 

From  the  beginning  men  have  recog¬ 
nized  their  obligations  to  God.  The  first 
recorded  act  of  Cain  and  Abel  was  to 
bring  an  offering  unto  the  Lord  of  the 
grain  from  God’s  field  and  the  firstlings  of 
His  flock.  Abraham  “gave  a  tenth  of  all.” 
Because  Jacob  recognized  God  as  the 
giver  of  all  his  possessions,  he  said,  “I 
will  surely  give  the  tenth  unto  Thee.” 
God  incorporated  this  already  recognized 
principle  in  His  law.  The  first  tenth  of 
all  their  increase  was  for  Him.  It  was  not 
to  be  given  as  a  gift — “The  tithe  is  the 
Lord’s.”  If  anything  was  kept  back  it 
had  not  only  to  be  made  up,  but  ‘  ‘a  fifth 
part  added  thereto.”  The  years  of  past 
neglect  were  to  be  redeemed  at  compound 
interest! 

Upon  the  offering  of  the  tithe  blessings 
and  prosperity  were  distinctly  promised 
and  strikingly  fulfilled  in  Israel’s  history. 
When  the  tithes  were  withheld,  religion 
waned  and  poverty  and  captivity  fell  like  a 
blight.  Through  a  thousand,  years  of  a 
nation’s  history  the  painful  lesson  was 
taught  that  God  gives  wealth  and  He  must 
be  first  honored  in  its  expenditure.  Yet  in 


5 

the  added  light  of  the  New  Testament  the 
Church  has  largely  lost  the  consciousness 
of  her  stewardship.  She  has  fallen  below 
even  the  Jewish  low-water  mark  of  a  single 
tithe. 

The  rugged  words  of  Deuteronomy  need 
to  be  boldly  re-echoed  in  our  own  day: 
“Beware  lest  when  thou  hast  built  goodly 
houses;  and  when  thy  silver  and  thy  gold 
is  multiplied,  then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up 
and  thou  forget  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
say  in  thine  heart,  My  power  and  the 
might  of  mine  hand  hath  gotten  me  this 
wealth.  But  thou  shalt  remember  the 
Lord  thy  God,  for  it  is  he  that  giveth  thee 
power  to  get  wealth.”  (Deut.  8:  11-20.) 

Are  we  in  sentiment  or  in  fact  God’s 
stewards?  If  you  had  a  clerk  or  manager 
or  steward  to  whom  you  entrusted  your 
estate  during  your  absence,  with  plain  and 
repeated  directions  that,  though  he  was  to 
get  his  living  out  of  it,  he  was  not  to  lay 
up  money  for  himself,  but  was  to  use  it  for 
your  children  and  for  advancing  your  work: 
if  you  found  upon  return  that  he  had 
neglected  your  interests  and  your  children, 
and  had  transferred  to  his  own  bank 


6 


account  what  he  had  not  spent  upon  him¬ 
self  and  his  own  family — what  would  you 
call  this?  You  would  call  it  robbery. 
What  does  God  call  it?  “Ye  rob  me,  even 
this  whole  nation.  Bring  ye  the  whole 
tithe  into  the  storehouse,  *  *  *  and  prove 
me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I 
will  not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven, 
and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there 
shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it.” 
(Mai.  3:9-10. ) 

If  we  have  not  an  overflowing  blessing 
in  our  lives  the  reason  may  not  be  very 
far  to  seek.  In  the  light  of  Christ’s  teach¬ 
ing  however,  the  “whole  tithe”  for  us 
may  be  more  than  the  tenth.  Jacob  had 
no  church  to  support,  and  the  Jews  no 
world  to  evangelize. 

11.  The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Christ: 

The  whole  Stewardship  wholly  used  for  God. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount: — For¬ 
bidding  selfish  accumulation.  (Matt. 
6:  19-34.)  “Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  the  earth.”  “But  seek  ye 
first  His  Kingdom,  and  His  righteousness; 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 


7 

you.”  Let  us  thoughtfully  ponder  each 
priceless  word,  for  the  teaching  of  Christ 
reveals  the  very  mind  of  God  regarding  our 
stewardship.  Jesus  here  teaches  that  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  for  ourselves  is  both 
dangerous  and  unnecessary;  dangerous, 
because  it  tends  to  become  our  master  and 
divorce  us  from  God;  unnecessary,  because 
our  own  need  does  not  require  it. 

The  Foolish  Rich  Man: — The  folly 
of  selfish  accumulation.  (Luke  12:13-40.) 
“I  will  pull  down  my  barns  and  build 
greater.  ’  ’ 

“Sell  that  ye  have,  and  give  alms.” 

The  rich  man’s  only  recorded  sin  is  that 
of  making  a  fortune  for  himself,  instead  of 
using  his  wealth  for  God.  But  in  living 
for  himself  he  had  lost  his  soul.  He  had 
said  he  would  increase  and  keep.  Christ 
bids  us  decrease  and  give.  We  are  not  of 
this  world,  and  our  wealth  must  be  con¬ 
verted  into  a  letter  of  credit  on  the  next. 
We  are  to  transfer  our  wealth  to  heaven  by 
giving  it  to  the  needy  on  earth. 

The  Unrighteous  Steward: — The 
eternal  significance  of  our  stewardship. 
(Luke  16:1-14.)  “I  say  unto  you, Make  to 


8 


yourselves  friends  by  means  of  the  mammon 
of  unrighteousness;  that, when  it  shall  fail, 
they  may  receive  you  into  the  eternal 
tabernacles.  *  *  *  If  therefore  ye  have  not 
been  faithful  in  the  unrighteous  mammon, 
who  ’will  commit  to  your  trust  the  true 
riches?  And  if  ye  have  not  been  faithful 
in  that  which  is  another' s,  who  will  give 
you  that  which  is  your  own?” 

On  finding  the  stewardship  is  to  be  taken 
from  him  the  unrighteous  steward  makes 
the  most  of  his  position  while  it  remains, 
to  help  him  when  it  shall  have  been  taken 
away.  He  is  not  commended  for  doing 
“well"  for  his  master,  but  because  he  had 
done  “ wisely  for  himself.”  Christ  uses 
him  as  an  example  in  only  one  respect. 
He  seems  to  say  “Be  at  least  wise  enough 
to  use  your  stewardship  for  your  own 
eternal  interests,  to  gain  you  heaven  and 
not  to  lose  it.  Even  men  of  the  world  are 
not  so  blind  for  they  use  their  money  for 
their  own  best  advantage.” 

The  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus: — The 
terrible  consequences  of  a  selfish  steward¬ 
ship.  (Luke  16:19-31.)  While  the  para¬ 
ble  of  the  Foolish  Rich  Man  showed  the 


9 

steward’s  relation  to  God,  this  parable 
shows  his  relation  to  his  fellowman.  The 
rich  man’s  only  apparent  sin  was  that  he 
had  “fared  sumptuously”  without  regard 
to  the  poor  brother  at  his  gate.  This  neg¬ 
lected  stewardship  seals  his  destiny. 

Information  and  communication  have 
today  placed  the  heathen  at  our  very  gate 
in  all  their  poverty  and  corruption  of  sin; 
starving  for  want  of  the  crumbs  of  the 
bread  of  life  that  fall  from  our  table.  We 
may  disclaim  that  we  are  our  brother’s 
keeper,  but  to  deny  his  brotherhood  denies 
God’s  fatherhood.  To  disown  our  stew¬ 
ardship  is  to  disinherit  ourselves  of  the 
eternal  riches.  While  the  world  lasts  the 
rich  are  bound  to  the  needy  by  fetters  of 
obligation  that  cannot  be  broken  till  the 
word  of  God  pronounces  the  “great  gulf 
fixed.” 

The  Rich  Young  Ruler: — All  must 
be  surrendered  to  God.  (Luke  18:18-25.) 
When  Christ  makes  the  real  test  of  the 
young  man’s  devotion  to  God  in  asking 
him  to  sell  all  that  he  has,  he  hangs  his 
head  and  counts  the  cost.  On  the  one 
side,  multitudes  blessed,  treasure  for  him- 


IO 


self  in  heaven,  personal  fellowship  with 
Jesus  on  earth:  on  the  other  side,  his 
money  and  himself.  He  turns  away,  for 
his  heart  is  in  his  possessions,  not  in  God. 
And  Christ  says  to  the  multitude,  “It  is 
easier  for  a  camel  to  enter  in  through  a 
needle’s  eye,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God!”  And  why? 
Unless  our  possessions  are  used  solely  for 
Him,  their  very  retention  and  accumulation 
in  the  face  of  the  world’s  need,  shows  our 
heart  to  be  in  them.  Christ  plainly  reveals 
the  only  condition  upon  which  He  will 
save  rich  or  poor — the  surrender  of  all 
to  Him.  “Whosoever  he  be  of  you  that 
renounceth  not  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot 
be  my  disciple.” 

Summary  of  Christ’s  Teaching: — 
Space  has  permitted  only  brief  reference 
to  a  few  typical  passages.  Yet  even  in 
these  Christ  has  shown  the  relation  of  our 
stewardship  to  this  life  and  the  next,  to 
God  and  our  fellowman,  and  to  our  own 
destiny.  All  are  summed  up  in  the  idea 
of  the  Kingdom,  in  advancing  which 
money  finds  its  highest  service  and  its 
truest  end. 


Christ  never  once  suggests  the  tithe  for 
us.  It  has  gone  with  the  Law.  He  dis¬ 
closes  the  great  underlying  principle  which 
the  tithe  partially  revealed — The  whole 
stewardship  wholly  used  for  God. 

He  leaves  it  for  us  to  determine  by  the 
guidance  of  the  Spirit  how  the  principle 
shall  be  applied  to  our  own  circumstances. 
While  it  precludes  accumulation  for  self,  it 
does  not  forbid  the  legitimate  increase  of 
capital  required  in  a  prosperous  business, 
provided  it  be  in  the  full  assurance  that  it 
is  God’s  will,  and  that  its  income  shall  be 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  God’s  King¬ 
dom.  The  danger  is  only,  that  in  its 
increase  it  shall  become  our  master,  and 
that  we  shall  quiet  our  consciences  by 
promise  of  larger  future  giving,  because 
we  are  really  unwilling  to  give  what  we 
should  now.  If  unwilling  to  give  now,  we 
shall  be  far  more  so  when  we  are  richer, 
for  “only  constant  giving  keeps  the  soul 
from  shrinkage.’’ 

Is  God  permitted  to  do  His  will  in  our 
stewardship?  Can  we  claim  that  we  have 
surrendered  ourselves  to  Him,  if  we  with¬ 
hold  our  possessions,  which,  as  the  means 


12 


of  self-gratification,  represent  the  very 
essence  of  self?  “Not  every  one  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into 
the  Kingdom  of  heaven;  but  he  thatdoeth 
the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.’ ’ 

hi.  The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles: 

Showing  how  the  Stewardship  is  to  be  administered. 

In  applying  the  principles  of  Christ  to 
the  churches  Paul  settles  upon  a  method  of 
giving  which  he  had  successfully  inaugu¬ 
rated  through  Galatia,  enjoins  upon  the 
church  at  Corinth,  and,  through  his  epistle, 
to  the  Christians  of  all  time.  “As  I  gave 
order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  so  also 
do  ye.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let 
each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  he 
may  prosper,  that  no  collections  be  made 
when  I  come.”  ( i  Cor.  1 6 : i ,  2. )  Divested 
of  the  local  conditions  we  find  here  two 
underlying  principles  applicable  to  all 
times — those  of  systematic  and  propor¬ 
tionate  giving. 

1.  Systematic  Giving  is  giving  ac¬ 
cording  to  a  method  instead  of  from  im¬ 
pulse,  constantly  instead  of  occasionally. 
Our  circumstances  will  determine  whether 


13 

we  shall  actually  lay  aside  the  money  upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  month,  or 
quarter,  or  whether  we  shall  open  an 
account  in  our  books.  In  any  event  to 
have  an  account  or  fund  separated  for 
God’s  use  and  administered  as  a  trust 
We  may  pause  to  notice  two  reasons  why 
it  is  the  best  way  of  giving. 

It  yields  larger  returns.  Drawing 
steadily  from  an  entire  income  will  yield 
more  than  emptying  an  unprepared  pocket- 
book.  If  your  book  keeper  made  entries 
in  your  books  when  he  ‘  ‘felt  like  it,  ”  or  if  he 
put  money  in  your  cash  drawer  only  when 
“specially  appealed  to,”  your  treasury 
would  get  very  low.  So  does  God’s 
treasury.  If  your  cook  made  no  provision 
for  your  meals  and  only  served  them  when 
she  “happened  to  think  of  it,”  you  would 
soon  starve.  That  is  what  the  people  do 
who  depend  upon  careless  givers  for  the 
bread  of  life. 

It  sanctifies  the  whole  round  of  life . 
Giving  systematically  we  escape  the  strain 
of  having  to  decide  each  time  between 
desire  and  duty.  We  ate  not  hardened  by 
repeated  refusals.  We  decide  alone  with 


H 

God  and  then  place  the  money  as  He  leads 
us.  A  man  is  now  doing  business  for 
God.  He  is  working  that  he  “may  have 
whereof  to  give.”  A  new  motive  has 
come  into  his  life.  Giving  becomes  a  pas¬ 
sion.  His  interests  are  widened  from  the 
petty  sphere  of  his  own  business  to  the 
mighty  concerns  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Giving  becomes  worship.  He  will  follow 
it  with  prayer.  He  now  “gives  himself 
with  his  alms”  and  his  sympathy  reaches 
out  into  all  the  world. 

Thank  God  there  are  such  men.  We 
know  of  one  man  in  the  East  whose  work 
is  stimulated  by  the  thought  that  his  toil 
sustains  eight  missionaries.  A  firm  in  the 
West  has  increased  its  business  four  hun¬ 
dred  per  cent,  since  it  began  tithing  its 
profits,  apart  from  the  personal  giving  of 
its  members.  A  dozen  missionaries  are 
supported  from  a  third  of  the  profits  of 
still  another  firm  whose  business  has  tripled 
in  the  midst  of  hard  times.  “Honor  the 
Loj'd  with  thy  substance,  and  with  the  first 
fruits  of  all  thine  increase;  so  shall  thy 
barns  be  filled  with  plenty.” 

2.  Proportionate  Giving  is  giving 


15 

a  definite  proportion  of  one’s  income 
instead  of  a  chance  or  undefined  sum.  It 
is  giving  according  to  the  measure  of  one’s 
ability,  rather  than  at  the  dictate  of  his  in¬ 
clination.  “Every  man  shall  give  as  he  is 
able,  according  to  the  blessing  of  the  Lord 
thy  God.”  The  proportion  should  be 
determined  thoughtfully  and  prayerfully 
alone  with  God,  asking,  not  what  propor¬ 
tion  shall  we  give  to  God,  but  what  pro¬ 
portion  would  He  have  us  keep  for  our 
own  needs. 

Like  the  Pharisees  of  our  Lord’s  time 
we  may  have  even  looked  complacently  on 
having  fulfilled  the  letter  by  giving  a  tenth, 
yet  have  forgotten  to  “show  mercy”  with 
the  other  nine-tenths,  to  thousands  in  des¬ 
perate  need.  For  whose  is  this  nine- 
tenths?  By  paying  God  a  tenth  do  we  earn 
the  right  to  do  what  we  please  with  the  rest? 

But  where  will  all  this  end,  and  where  are 
we  to  draw  the  line  for  ourselves?  Paul 
does  not  leave  us  in  the  dark.  He  gives 
us  a  principle,  which  is  the  supreme  test  of 
our  stewardship, by  which  we  can  determine 
what  proportion  to  give,  and  how  to  spend 
every  penny. 


i6 

3.  The  Final  Test  of  our  Stew¬ 
ardship: —  “Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or 
drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God ,  *  *  *  even  as  I  also,  *  *  * 
not  seeking  mine  own  profit,  but  the  profit 
of  the  many  that  they  may  he  saved.  ’  ’  J  osiah 
Strong  well  applies  this  principle  to  our  own 
day  in  the  matter  of  expenditure.  “All  the 
money  which  will  yield  a  larger  return  of 
usefulness  in  the  world,  of  greater  good  to 
the  Kingdom,  by  being  spent  on  ourselves 
or  family  than  by  being  applied  otherwise, 
is  used  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  is  better 
spent  than  it  would  have  been  if  given  to 
missions.  And  whatever  money  is  spent 
on  self  that  would  have  yielded  larger  re¬ 
turns  of  usefulness  if  applied  otherwise  is 
misapplied;  and  if  it  has  been  done  intel¬ 
ligently  it  is  a  case  of  embezzlement!” 
“What  is  needed  is  not  merely  an  increased 
giving,  but  a  radically  different  conception 
of  our  relations  to  our  possessions.”  The 
spirit  of  our  giving  has  become  one  of 
compromise  instead  of  sacrifice. 

We  are  to  “do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.” 
Every  ten  cent  piece  represents  ten  units 
of  opportunity  and  responsibility.  It  will 


1 7 

buy  a  cigar,  or  preach  the  gospel  for  a 
whole  day  through  native  lips.  A  dollar 
will  furnish  an  evening’s  amusement  or  it 
will  keep  a  boy  in  a  mission  day-school  for 
twelve  months.  Thirty  dollars  will  send  a 
native  pastor  through  villages  that  have 
never  heard  the  gospel,  for  a  whole  year. 
With  such  possibilities  in  money  how  can 
we  waste  even  a  penny? 

Testing  our  stewardship  on  the  principle 
of  doing  all  to  God’s  glory  let  us  make  a 
trial  balance  while  we  are  still  in  possession 
here  on  earth.  Suppose  we  take  time  to 
make  an  estimate  of  the  items  of  our  ex¬ 
penditure  on  paper,  and  note  the  annual 
cost  of  our  necessities  and  of  our  luxuries. 
Let  us  add  the  amount  we  spent  in  advanc¬ 
ing  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  see  what 
per  cent,  it  is  of  our  income.  When  we 
have  finished  the  list  let  us  honestly  ask 
ourselves  if  we  have  spent  all  with  the 
thought  of  glorifying  Him,  and  if  we  could 
hand  over  the  account  to  our  Master  with¬ 
out  shame,  confident  of  His  “Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant.” 

Perhaps  some  things  on  our  list  look 
doubtful.  We  seem  to  have  a  right  to 


i8 

them  yet  they  make  us  feel  a  little  uncom¬ 
fortable.  Have  we  not  a  right  of  self¬ 
development?  Surely  God  intended  that 
we  should  beautify  our  lives  with  “what¬ 
soever  things  are  lovely.”  Doubtless  if  all 
gave  as  they  should  for  the  Kingdom,  each 
would  have  enough  left  for  the  amenities  of 
life,  but  when  most  fail  to  do  their  share 
those  who  would  glorify  God  and  meet 
their  increased  responsibility,  under  these 
strained  conditions,  must  forego  what 
would  otherwise  be  their  right. 

The  Bible  does  not  forbid  the  enjoyment  • 
of  God’s  gifts,  but  it  shows  us  a  yet  more 
excellent  way.  The  right  of  possession  is 
transcended  by  the  privilege  of  sacrifice. 
Our  right  gives  way  to  God’s  glory. 
Christ  had  a  right  to  enjoy  heaven  but  He 
left  it  to  bring  others  there.  The  very 
apostle  who  says  we  may  enjoy  God’s  gifts, 
speaks  of  himself  as  poor,  in  hunger  and 
thirst,  in  cold  and  nakedness,  suffering 
hardship  “that  they  also  might  obtain  the 
salvation  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.’’  “He 
that  loveth  his  life  loseth  it;  and  he  that 
hateth  his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it 
unto  life  eternal.” 


19 

“The  power  of  money  is  something 
awful.”  It  is  the  stored  up  energy  of 
human  toil  and  can  be  converted  again  into 
action  in  the  work  of  many  men.  It  can 
stretch  out  its  arms  of  power  around  the 
world,  and  send  light  to  the  most  remote 
and  destitute.  If  now  this  vast  potency 
for  good  be  kept  for  self,  when  it  might 
have  been  the  means  of  bringing  salvation 
to  thousands,  we  can  know  the  very  words 
we  shall  hear  before  the  throne  of  God, 
“Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of 
these  least,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me.”  (Matt. 

25:45-) 

To  have  lived  in  such  an  infinite  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  doing  good  and  to  have  trifled 
with  the  trust  makes  God’s  words  terrible 
against  riches  wrongly  used:  “Their  rust” 
(that  is  the  evidence  of  the  coin’s  disuse  in 
God’s  service)  “shall  be  for  a  testimony 
against  you  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as  fire.  ’  ’ 

‘  ‘Ye  have  lived  delicately  on  the  earth,  and 
taken  your  pleasure;  ye  have  nourished 
your  hearts  in  a  day  of  slaughter .” 

After  tracing  from  the  first  verse  of 
Genesis  to  the  last  page  of  Malachi  the 
truth  that  all  belongs  to  God;  after  Christ’s 


20 


repeated  commands  that  all  should  be  used 
for  Him;  after  the  clear  teaching  of  the 
apostles  that  we  should  “do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God,”  our  risen  Lord  yet  speaks 
again  from  heaven  itself,  as  though  in  final 
pleading  with  Hispeople.  (Rev. 3:17:22.) 
“Because  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  have 
gotten  riches,  and  have  need  of  nothing; 
and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  the  wretched 
one  and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and 
naked:  *  *  *  be  zealous  therefore, and  repent. 
Behold ,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock:  if 
any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door, 
I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with 
him,  and  he  with  me.  *  *  *  He  that  hath 
an  ear ,  let  him  hear." 


11.  THE  CHURCH’S  USE  AND  ABUSE  OF 
THE  STEWARDSHIP 


1.  The  Abuse  of  the  Stewardship. 

The  church  as  a  whole,  including  all 
denominations  in  this  country,  gives  less 
for  the  cause  of  the  evangelization  of  the 
rest  of  the  world,  than  is  expended  in 
idolatrous  worship  at  a  single  heathen 


21 


shrine  in  India — that  of  the  Goddess  of 
Cruelty.  Meanwhile,  Christians  “lay  up” 
annually  nearly  one  hundred  times  the 
amount  they  give  to  foreign  missions,  above 
all  their  comforts  and  luxuries. 

Contrasted  with  expenditures  for  other 
things  we  find  that  the  women  of  the 
country  spend  far  more  for  artificial  flowers 
or  for  kid  gloves  than  does  the  church  for 
missions;  while  Christian  women,  if  they 
spend  but  half  as  much  as  women  of  the 
world  for  jewelry,  yet  spend  ten  times  as 
much  for  that  article  as  they  do  for  the  con¬ 
version  of  the  heathen.  Many  times  as 
much  money  was  puffed  away  in  tobacco 
smoke  by  the  men  of  the  country  last  year, 
as  the  Christians  of  the  United  States  have 
given  in  a  century  to  evangelize  the  rest 
of  the  world.  The  church  and  the  wrorld 
alike  spend  money  for  what  they  truly 
care.  In  a  year  when  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  is  spent  for  the  racing  of  a  crew,  a 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  connection 
with  a  single  football  game,  seventy  thous¬ 
and  for  a  banquet,  and  six  hundred  thous¬ 
and  dollars  for  a  wedding,  our  Mission 
Boards  are  left  groaning  under  heavy  debt, 


22 


while  the  private  wealth  of  Christians 
steadily  increases. 

When  we  come  to  examine  our  giving 
by  churches  we  find  over  a  thousand,  in 
each  of  the  twelve  leading  denominations, 
that  give  nothing  for  foreign  missions.  We 
are  reminded  of  one  church  whose  printed 
programs  cost  more  than  they  gave  to  this 
great  cause;  of  another  which  spent  twenty 
times  as  much  for  its  choir  as  for  missions; 
and  of  still  another  church,  doing  compara¬ 
tively  little  for  missions,  whose  soprano 
cost  enough  to  have  supported  two  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  a  hundred  native  preachers 
on  the  foreign  field.  Such  instances  might 
be  multiplied  by  the  hundred,  but  they  are 
too  familiar  to  need  further  illustration. 

When  we  consider  our  giving  as  indi¬ 
viduals  we  find  that  for  the  conversion  of 
every  one  in  this  country  we  spend  the  all 
too  small  amount  of  about  a  dollar  and  a 
half  per  capita,  yet  for  the  world’s  unevan¬ 
gelized  we  spend  only  one  half  of  a  cent 
per  capita,  or  one- three- hundredth  part. 
The  average  gift  of  each  church  member 
to  foreign  missions  is  about  forty  cents  a 
year,  or  one-ninth  of  a  cent  a  day.  Is 


23 

this  the  price  we  place,  not  merely  on  the 
salvation  of  a  soul,  but  upon  the  redemp¬ 
tion  of  the  world  ? 

ii.  The  Excuse  for  Such  Stewardship. 

Consistent  with  such  measure  of  giving 
we  are  defending  our  action  by  the  asser¬ 
tion  of  various  objections  as  excuse  for  our 
shortcoming.  Let  us  look  a  few  of  the 
more  common  of  these  squarely  in  the 
face. 

‘  ‘  We  do  not  believe  in  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions.”  But  do  we  believe  in  Jesus  Christ? 
When  He  was  in  the  flesh  He  said,  “I  was 
not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house 
of  Israel,”  but  after  He  had  once  died  for 
the  world,  the  only  command  He  ever  gave 
to  all  disciples  was  that  they  should  give 
His  gospel  to  the  whole  world.  “Let 
those  who  denominate  the  world’s  conver¬ 
sion  a  wild  scheme  remember  who  devised 
it.  Let  those  who  look  upon  missionaries 
as  enthusiasts  reflect  whose  command  has 
made  them  such.  Let  those  who  believe 
the  nations  can  never  be  evangelized  con¬ 
sider  whose  power  and  veracity  their 
incredulity  sets  at  defiance.”  Phillips 


24 

Brooks  well  said,  “The  foreign  missionary 
idea  is  the  necessary  completion  of  the 
Christian  life.  It  is  the  apex  to  which  all 
lines  of  the  pyramid  lead  up.  The  Chris¬ 
tian  life  without  it  is  an  imperfect,  mangled 
thing.’ ’ 

Suppose  the  gospel  had  gone  Eastward 
instead  of  Westward  and  we  were  in  the 
condition  of  our  savage  ancestors  and  real¬ 
ized  our  need,  would  we  say  we  did  not 
believe  in  foreign  missions?  If  Christ  com¬ 
manded  the  evangelization  of  the  world  we 
may  be  reasonably  sure  of  two  things.  It 
is  necessary  for  them  and  it  is  possible 
for  us. 

“There  is  Work  enough  at  Home .” 
There  is  indeed.  There  always  has  been; 
there  always  will  be.  But  as  Robert  Speer 
says,  “Work  enough  for  what?  Work 
enough  to  make  us  feel  ashamed  we  have 
not  done  more?  Yes.  But  work  enough 
to  make  us  neglect  our  Lord’s  last  com¬ 
mand,  when  there  are  men  enough,  and 
money  enough,  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the 
whole  world?  Never!”  There  may  be 
work  enough  at  home,  “but  there  will  be 
more  work  at  home,  if  we  don’t  begin  in 


25 

real  earnest  to  fulfill  our  Lord’s  com¬ 
mand.” 

If  God’s  purpose  is  first  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature  before  waiting  till 
any  one  country  is  entirely  converted,  we 
shall  positively  hinder  the  work  in  our  own 
land  if  we  refuse  to  work  on  God’s  plan, 
and  allow  our  forces  to  congest  in  attrac¬ 
tive  and  favored  districts.  Some  who  have 
been  preached  to  over  and  over  again  will 
never  accept  Christ.  If  there  are  heathen 
in  our  own  land,  they  are  heathen  by 
choice,  and  not,  as  in  many  lands,  heathen 
by  necessity. 

We  shall  save  America,  through  saving 
the  world.  If  we  demand  that  America 
be  saved  first ,  we  may  place  ourselves 
under  God’s  category  of  those  who  shall 
be  last.  We  do  not  plead  for  the  foreign 
field  in  opposition  to  the  home  field.  No 
part  of  the  kingdom  is  advanced  at  the 
expense  of  another.  The  field  is  one.  But 
it  is  because  the  field  is  one,  that  we  plead 
for  the  neglected  portion  of  that  field,  with 
its  even  larger  opportunity,  yet  far  smaller 
supply  of  workers.  Should  we  be  spend¬ 
ing  more  for  the  work  in  our  own  city  than 


26 


for  all  the  rest  of  the  world?  “These  ye 
ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left 
the  other  undone.” 

“  We  are  already  doing  good  with  our 
money”  “Even  if  we  spend  it  upon  our¬ 
selves  we  are  aiding  all  employed  in  mak¬ 
ing  what  we  buy.”  Providentially  we  can¬ 
not  wholly  neglect  others  even  if  we  would. 
But  supposing  that  we  are  compelled  to 
benefit  ten  men  by  employing  their  services 
in  ministering  to  our  pleasure ,  is  this  cause 
for  self-complacency,  if  the  same  money, 
placed  in  the  channels  of  the  Kingdom, 
could  have  given  employment  to  a  hundred 
men  to  minister  to  the  welfare  of  humanity? 
To  quote  the  rugged  words  of  John  Rus- 
kin:  “Do  not  cheat  yourself  into  thinking 
that  all  the  finery  you  can  wear  is  so  much 
put  into  the  hungry  mouths  of  those  be¬ 
neath  you;  it  is  not  so.  *  *  *  As  long  as  there 
is  cold  and  nakedness  in  the  land  around 
you,  so  long  there  can  be  no  question  at 
all  but  that  splendor  of  dress  is  a  crime.” 

The  Right  Use  of  the  Stewardship. 

Such  excuses  for  the  abuse  of  the  steward¬ 
ship  are  happily  not  universal.  There  are 


27 

examples  all  about  us  to  show  the  glorious 
possibilities  of  a  right  use  of  stewardship. 
Wherever  the  Bible  doctrine  has  been  faith¬ 
fully  preached  and  the  whole  world  looked 
upon  as  the  pastor’s  parish,  the  results  have 
been  in  striking  contrast  to  the  foregoing 
facts.  A  Bible  class  composed  largely  of 
servant  girls  taught  by  a  pastor’s  wife,  gave 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  in  a  year  for  foreign 
missions;  Mr.  Stearns’  church  and  Bible 
classes  gave  nineteen  thousand  dollars  last 
year  for  the  same  cause;  while  Dr.  A.  J. 
Gordon’s  church  of  moderate  means,  after 
much  prayer,  quietly  gave  twenty  thousand 
dollars  in  a  year  for  foreign  missions. 
There  were  servants  in  his  congregation 
who  gave  fifty  dollars,  and  shop  girls  who 
gave  a  hundred. 

In  the  matter  of  individual  giving  per¬ 
haps  the  most  striking  instances  of  sacrifice 
are  those  that  come  to  us  from  the  newly 
converted  heathen,  giving  in  their  deep 
poverty.  We  read  of  some  giving  all  their 
savings,  others  parting  with  their  garments, 
giving  part  of  their  food  and  even  selling 
their  beds  to  sleep  on  mud  floors,  that  the 
cause  of  Christ,  dearer  than  their  own 


28 


lives,  may  be  advanced  at  any  cost.  When 
the  crops  of  the  natives  in  Burmah  were 
destroyed,  one  of  them  brought  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  the  sum  of  five  dollars  saved  by  a 
small  congregation,  for  spreading  the  gos¬ 
pel  among  their  heathen  brethren  in  the 
North.  When  the  missionary  remonstrated 
the  native  said,  “We  can  eat  rats,  but  they 
cannot  do  without  the  gospel.” 

In  a  mission  station  in  China  a  man 
appeared  recently  bending  under  the  burden 
of  a  large  sack.  A  wrinkled  hand  stretched 
from  the  mouth  of  the  sack  holding  out  to 
the  missionary  a  small  string  of  cash.  The 
man’s  aged  mother  had  so  coveted  this  joy 
of  bringing  her  collection  to  the  mission 
with  her  own  hands,  that  he  had  brought 
her  in  a  sack  — the  only  vehicle  he  could  * 
afford.  The  happy  face  of  the  old  woman 
was  touching  to  behold  when  it  was  learned 
that  her  offering  was  cheerfully  given  from 
poverty  so  severe  that  she  was  compelled 
to  mix  earth  with  her  scanty  food,  that  it 
might  seem  to  go  farther  in  satisfying  the 
cravings  of  hunger. 

But  we  have  not  to  go  beyond  our  own 
country  for  examples  of  noble  sacrifice. 


29 

In  an  Eastern  city  a  young  man  and  his 
wife  support  their  missionary  in  the  foreign 
field  out  of  a  salary  of  eleven  hundred 
dollars.  They  were  gladly  ready,  if  neces¬ 
sary,  to  move  to  a  poorer  part  of  town,  in 
order  that  they  might  not  fail  to  have  this 
privilege  of  having  their  own  substitute 
abroad.  A  school  teacher  from  her  salary 
of  a  thousand  dollars  sustains  her  substitute 
in  China  with  five  hundred  dollars. 

Working  all  day  long  in  an  office  of  a 
large  city,  there  is  a  stenographer  who  is 
surely  one  of  the  King’s  stewards.  Some 
years  ago  she  began  to  save  her  small 
earnings  and  quietly  to  send  them  out  to 
the  foreign  field,  until  today,  through 
God’s  blessing  on  her  gifts,  more  than  a 
thousand  souls  in  India  can  look  up  into 
the  face  of  a  Heavenly  Father  and  rejoice 
in  eternal  life  that  will  never  end. 

A  widow  in  Dr.  Gordon’s  church  in 
Boston  living  in  one  room  of  a  tenement 
house,  gave  eight  hundred  dollars  in  the 
foreign  mission  collection.  When  the 
Doctor  called  and  asked  her  how  she  could 
give  so  much,  she  said,  “Here  I  am  com¬ 
fortable  and  have  enough,  living  upon  two 


30 

hundred  dollars  a  year.  But  I  do  not 
know  how  I  could  go  to  meet  my  Lord,  if 
I  lived  upon  the  eight  hundred  dollars  and 
only  gave  Him  the  two  hundred.” 

In  the  shameful  neglect  of  the  great 
majority  of  Christians,  and  in  the  noble 
sacrifice  of  the  few,  have  we  not  in  both 
alike  an  incentive  to  a  nobler  stewardship? 

in.  THE  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  HOUR 
FOR  CHRISTIAN  STEWARDSHIP. 

Do  we  read  the  signs  of  our  own  times? 
After  slow  millenniums  of  training  of  a 
single  people,  after  nineteen  centuries  of 
preparation  of  His  Church,  God  has  at 
last  thrown  the  world  wide  open  before 
Christians  of  today.  Within  the  lifetime 
of  men  of  middle  age  God  has  opened  the 
long  closed  doors  of  access  to  nearly  a 
thousand  millions  of  our  fellowmen! 

And  God  never  opens  a  door  until  we 
are  prepared  to  enter  it.  The  world  is  now 
a  neighborhood  and  every  man  a  titan  in 
his  possibility  of  accomplishment.  At  the 
very  hour  when  the  world  is  opened  we 
find  every  means  placed  within  the  hands 
of  the  Church  for  its  evangelization. 


3i 

Magnificent  Missionary  organizations  are 
ready  to  send.  Thousands  of  consecrated 
young  men  and  women,  preparing  in  our 
Universities,  are  being  raised  up  by  the 
wonderful  providence  of  God,  ready  to  go. 
The  Church  now  holds  the  power  to  equip 
the  organizations,  to  send  the  laborers,  to 
evangelize  the  world.  The  supreme  need 
of  the  day  seems  to  be  a  consecrated  stew¬ 
ardship  empowered  by  prayer. 

Bishop  Thoburn  writes:  “At  the  present 
hour  the  demand  is  for  money  to  sustain 
the  work.  I  am  receiving  offers  of  service 
nearly  every  week,  but  there  is  neither 
money  to  send  men  abroad,  nor  to  sustain 
them  when  there.  It  now  seems  as  if  our 
possibilities  were  limited  only  by  our 
financial  resources,  but  at  this  critical  time, 
this  time  of  all  times,  we  are  confronted  by 
an  actual  reduction  in  our  Missionary 
appropriations,  and  are  compelled  to  talk 
of  retreat  in  the  very  hour  of  victory. 
The  withholding  of  money  at  such  a  time 
is  more  than  unwise, — it  is  hardly  less  than 
criminal.”  Horace  Bushnell  said:  “There 
is  needed  one  more  revival  among  Chris¬ 
tians,  a  revival  of  Christian  giving.  When 


32 

that  revival  comes,  the  Kingdom  of  God 
will  come  in  a  day.” 

Surely  we  have  not  realized  our  re¬ 
sponsibility  as  stewards,  nor  our  part  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  world.  Missionaries 
alone  can  never  convert  the  world.  They 
are  but  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  enter¬ 
prise;  Christ  is  the  head,  and  the  Church 
the  heart  of  the  work.  If  those  at  home 
are  cold  and  dead,  not  pulsing  out  the 
warm  life-blood  of  sympathy  and  prayer 
and  sacrifice,  the  hands  will  be  palsied  and 
the  knees  feeble.  Only  when  the  watchers 
on  the  mountain  top  sustained  Moses’ 
hands  in  prayer,  was  the  army  victorious  at 
the  front.  A  single  Achan  with  his  hidden 
gold  brought  defeat  to  the  conquering  host. 
It  was  only  the  annual  cost  of  a  modern 
missionary  under  his  tent,  but  it  was 
enough  to  keep  God’s  blessing  from  multi¬ 
tudes.  There  are  enough  hindered  prayers 
and  laborers  withheld  in  the  money  which 
Christians  have  laid  up  for  themselves  to 
give  the  gospel  to  the  whole  world  many 
times  over. 

We  are  all  members  of  Christ,  mutually 
dependent.  The  hand  cannot  say  to  the 


33 

heart,  “I  have  no  need  of  thee.”  Each 
has  a  work  that  no  other  can  do,  and  each 
is  equally  responsible  to  the  full  measure 
of  his  ability.  Without  you  the  work  will 
not  be  complete.  There  are  those  in  other 
lands  whom  your  prayer  and  your  money 
could  reach  who  will  go  through  life  with¬ 
out  the  knowledge  of  Christ  if  you  are 
unfaithful.  How  we  must  be  blinded  by 
covetousness  if  we  are  unwilling  to  offer 
our  money  against  the  priceless  lives  of 
those  who  die  in  our  stead  on  the  mission- 
field  of  battle!  In  our  last  war  men  who 
could  not  go  sent  a  substitute.  Should 
not  the  teaching  of  God’s  word,  the  incen¬ 
tives  both  in  the  present  use  and  abuse  of 
stewardship,  and  the  boundless  opportunity 
that  is  ours  rouse  us  to  one  mighty  and 
unceasing  effort  for  the  world’s  redemption? 

Will  you  not  consecrate  your  whole  stew - 
ardship  to  His  service ? 

Will  you  ask  Him  to  show  you  just  how 
He  would  have  you  administer  your  stew¬ 
ardship? 

Will  you  today  lay  hold  of  the  mighty 
power  of  prayer  for  the  awakening  of  His 
Church  and  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom t 


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the  latest  missionary  map  of  China.  Paper,  thirty- 
five  cents  ;  cloth,  fifty  cents. 

Africa  Waiting.  Douglas  M.  Thornton.  No  better 
hand-book  on  Missions  in  the  Dark  Continent ;  ex¬ 
cellent  map.  Paper,  twenty-five  cents. 

The  Cross  in  the  Land  of  the  Trident.  Harlan  P. 
Beach.  A  brief,  pointed  and  accurate  account  of 
India  and  its  Missions.  Paper,  twenty-five  cents ; 
cloth,  forty  cents. 

nissions  in  the  Light  of  the  New  Testament.  Har¬ 
lan  P.  Beach.  Containing  outline  studies  of  mis¬ 
sions  as  described  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles.  Fif¬ 
teen  cents  per  copy.  Excellent. 

Missions  and  Apostles  of  Mediaeval  Europe.  Rev. 
G.  F.  Maclear,  D.D.  A  study  of  the  mission  fields  of 
the  Middle  Ages  and  their  development.  Paper, 
twenty-five  cents;  cloth,  forty  cents. 

Strategic  Points  in  the  World’s  Conquest.  John  R. 
Mott.  Giving  an  account  of  the  world  tour  of  Mr. 
Mott,  together  with  information  about  the  religious 
life  and  Christian  work  among  students  of  the  lands 
visited.  Cloth,  eighty-five  cents. 

Knights  of  the  Labarum.  Harlan  P.  Beach.  A  study 
of  the  lives  of  four  typical  missionaries  from  differ¬ 
ent  mission  fields.  Paper,  twenty-five  cents. 

The  Planting  and  Development  of  Missionary  Churches. 

J.  L,.  Nevius,  D.D.  A  statement  by  one  of  China’s 
leading  missionaries  of  methods  very  successfully 
employed  in  China,  Korea  and  elsewhere.  Paper^ 
fifteen  cents  ;  cloth,  twenty-five  cents. 

Send  orders  to 

General  Secretary, 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions* 
3  West  Twenty-ninth  Street,  New  York* 


Valuable  Publications* 


The  Student  Missionary  Appeal.  Report  Third  Inter¬ 
national  Convention  (Cleveland,  1898)  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement.  565  pages.  Cloth,  $1.50,  post¬ 
paid.  Fifth  thousand. 

The  Student  Missionary  Enterprise.  A  verbatim  re¬ 
port  of  the  general  meetings  and  section  confer¬ 
ences  of  the  Second  International  Convention  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,  Detroit,  1894.  8vo., 

373  pp.  Price,  cloth,  $1.00. 

The  World’s  Student  Christian  Federation.  A  28- 

page  pamphlet  containing  a  description  of  the  Fed¬ 
eration,  an  account  of  the  Federation  Conference  at 
Williamstown  in  1897,  and  the  report  of  the  progress 
of  the  Federation  during  the  first  two  years  of  its 
history.  Fifty  cents  per  dozen. 

The  Students  of  the  World  United.  A  28-page  pam¬ 
phlet,  giving  an  outline  statement  of  the  Federa¬ 
tion,  an  account  of  the  World’s  Student  Conference 
at  Fisenach  in  1898,  and  the  report  of  the  progress 
of  the  Federation  during  the  third  year  of  its  his¬ 
tory.  Fifty  cents  per  dozen. 

Outline  of  the  World’s  Student  Christian  Federation. 

A  four-page  leaflet  giving  the  general  facts  about  the 
Federation.  Ten  cents  per  dozen. 

Report  of  the  Federation  Conference  at  Eisenach.  This 
pamphlet  includes  the  detailed  reports  of  all  the 
student  movements  in  the  Federation  for  the  aca¬ 
demic  year  1897-98,  and  also  contains  in  full  the  vari¬ 
ous  papers  and  addresses  of  the  conference  held  at 
Kisenach  in  July,  1898.  Twenty-five  cents  each. 


Send  orders  to 

General  Secretary, 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions, 
3  West  Twenty-ninth  Street,  New  York. 


Valuable  Publications* 


The  Evangelization  of  China.  Addresses  delivered  at 
five  Conferences  of  Christian  Workers  in  China. 
Paper,  fifty  cents. 

A  Spiritual  Awakening  Among  India’s  Students.  Ad¬ 
dresses  delivered  at  the  Student  Conferences  in 
India.  Price,  fifty  cents  each. 

A  Concise  History  of  Missions.  Edwin  M.  Bliss, 
D.D.  An  up-to-date  summary  of  the  missionary  so¬ 
cieties  of  the  world,  their  history,  fields  and  the 
methods  employed.  Cloth,  seventy-five  cents. 

Missionary  Fact  Record  Book.  An  indexed  memoran¬ 
dum  book,  bound  in  leather,  Seventy-five  cents. 

Send  orders  to 

General  Secretary, 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions, 
3  West  Twenty-ninth  Street,  New  York, 


The  Intercollegian, 


The  official  organ  of  the  Student  Department  of 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations,  and  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions. 

Published  monthly  during  the  academic  year  (October 
to  June). 

Subscription  price,  fifty  cents  per  year,  in  advance ; 
twenty  cents  additional  to  foreign  countries. 

Address, 

The  Intercollegian, 

3  West  Twenty-ninth  Street, 

New  York, 


